CPR Cell Phone Repair to Merge With In & Out Smart Repair
In & Out Stores to Re-Brand as CPR Stores.
CPR Cell Phone Repair, North America’s largest device repair retail chain, has reached an agreement to merge with competitor In & Out Smart Repair. The post-merger company will have nearly 400 CPR-branded franchise locations. Founded in Lafayette, Louisiana in 2012, In & Out has quickly made its mark, growing to more than 70 locations with many more in various stages of development.
“We have tremendous respect for what the team at In & Out has built and are thrilled to announce that CPR and In & Out are merging,” said Josh Sevick, President of CPR. “Joining forces with another leading tech repair company was a no-brainer for us, particularly because our goals and core values align so closely with those of the In & Out management team. I would also like to take this opportunity to publicly welcome the In & Out franchise owners to the CPR family. We couldn’t be more excited to be partnering with you.”
In & Out co-founders John Mike Heroman and Gib Holland share Sevick’s enthusiasm. “The top priority for Gib and I is doing what is good for our franchisees,” explained Heroman. “We feel that being part of a national store network is going to be increasingly critical to success in the device repair industry. CPR has the most stores of any company in the industry, a very similar business model to In & Out, minimal footprint overlap with existing In & Out locations and, most importantly, a leadership team we trust. For these reasons, we are confident that merging with CPR is the best thing for us and our franchisees.”
Heroman and Holland, along with other members of the In & Out corporate staff, will join the CPR management team in various franchise sales and support roles. As the In & Out store owners are onboarded into the CPR system, they can expect to benefit from dramatically increased website traffic, a strong supply chain partnership and the value that comes from being affiliated with a larger store network.
The CPR / In & Out merger is just the latest in a series of events that strongly suggest the device repair industry will mature and institutionalize. Although the space is still highly fragmented and is comprised largely of independent, mom-and-pop repair shops, some consolidation has begun and it is expected to accelerate in the coming months. Of the consolidation, Josh Sevick said, “We continue to be impressed by the quality of the independent store and regional chain operators that we meet from all over the country. Some of them have chosen to join CPR, which we see as strong validation of what we are doing. We will continue to actively recruit talented repair industry operators to partner with us in new markets.”
The repair industry has also begun to attract the attention of many of the major players in wireless. Ben Davies, who works in business development at CPR, has seen a big shift in the way third-party repair companies are viewed. Davies commented, “In the past year, we have seen the major wireless carriers explore various options for bringing same-day repair offerings to market. We have seen some of the device OEMs express more willingness to leverage third-party repair shops to fulfill their customer care strategies. We have even seen ‘Right to Repair’ legislation proposed in several state legislatures. With all the developments in the industry, we believe that third-party repair is poised to be a much bigger factor in wireless.”
In addition to converting all of the In & Out stores to the CPR brand, the CPR team will continue to focus on aggressively growing its store network and on strengthening key strategic alliances that will help the company continue to thrive as the repair industry matures.
About CPR Cell Phone Repair:
Founded in Orlando, Fla. in 1996, CPR Cell Phone Repair is the fastest growing wireless technology franchise in North America and operates over 300 locations internationally. As a pioneer and leader in the electronics repair industry, CPR offers same-day repair and refurbishing services for cell phones, laptops, gaming systems, digital music players, tablets and other personal electronic devices. In both 2016 and 2017 CPR was named in Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500 List. In 2017 CPR was ranked in the top 100 tier of the List and was ranked #1 in the electronic repairs category. For more information about CPR Cell Phone Repair and franchise opportunities, visit https://www.cellphonerepair.com/ or call 877-856-5101.